Magic, mystery and sinister plots unfold as the Victorian era infuses European politics and society. Queen Victoria is a German princess with the eyes of Europe upon her. She knows her enemies, adores her husband and starts such trends as little red Pomeranians.
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In Germany, the Victorian era heralds massive change, evolution and progress. Steam is queen and innovation empowers lives. This inspiring background is the setting for the Reiker For Hire murder mystery trilogy and the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series.
Reiker For Hire Anthology
Three awesome books all in one place! Death Cruise, Hotel of Horror and Murder in the Cards are together in anthology form.
A little secret: wait for a Smashwords sale when my books are free! And of course they're always free to libraries from the Smashwords site.
Each Reiker novella is about 42,500 words. Murder, crime, history, quirky characters and offbeat humor combine to create a dynamic trilogy set during June, July and August of 1896. The Reiker anthology is based in Mittelstadt, a mid-sized German town south of Frankfurt.
The Reiker For Hire books take place in late Victorian era Germany then known as the German Empire. Reiker finds himself at a dead end after thirty years with the police and decides to strike out on his own as Mittelstadt's first and only private detective.
It's not long before he's embroiled in murder and mayhem. Mittelstadt is a middle class town of white collar industry and farmlands. Uptown is colorful, trendy and expensive. Scents of flowers and pastries fill the air and sweeping boys make sure the streets are spotless.
Downtown, where Reiker has his office, cobblestones are shiny with wear and the market square is bright and loud with buyers and sellers. The scent of fresh hot pretzels fills the air. Coffee houses prosper. Horse harness jingles as carts make their way through busy streets.
And toward the fringes are the dubious places, the tawdry theater districts, underground connections and the seedy sewers of humanity. The places of addicts, murderers and thieves function unseen below a sheen of normalcy.
First in the trilogy, Death Cruise takes us on a luxury riverboat cruise through the Middle Rhine, where the food is free and tourists mysteriously drop dead. Murder is obsession for a vengeful killer.
In 1896 sightseeing river boat vacations are popular with the social set. Visit Heidelberg, Speyer and other spectacular stops - but don't book the wrong cabin.
Hotel of Horror is inspired by a true story. In a time when spa hotels are booming, Reiker finds himself in a deathtrap in the Black Forest with an unwanted female detective.
Finally, Murder in the Cards has Reiker and April involved in swindles, schemes and setups. A fortune teller predicts murders come true and hires Reiker to stop them before they happen.
Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
Reiker first appears in the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series of novels, as the only human in Mittelstadt who knows about the Nyx. Water spirits, nixies reside in freshwater demesnes such as lakes, brooks, fountains, pools and the Mittelstadt River, which flows around town.
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An orphan, Lora attends a state-run girls' school. At fifteen years old she has a close kinship with water and a rebellious streak. One day, swimming in the river she gets a nasty surprise and almost drowns, rescued by a stranger named Marcus.
When she goes out to meet her boyfriend Wolf after curfew, she's caught and threatened with reform school. She's saved only as Marcus offers her a position as a maid.
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Years go by. Now she's a grown woman of twenty-one. She and Marcus are engaged to be married and Lora is happy to settle into domestic life.
Yet it's just not right. As strange things happen with the environment, a slew of deaths brings in a police officer with a bad attitude. A cryptic visit from the past starts to haunt her. Lora must come to terms with her true nature and save the world from an ancient evil.
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Inspired by the magic and lore of southern Germanic mythology, Lora Ley takes us on exciting journeys into magic and mystic realms of gods, nature spirits and monsters.
Meet Skoldt the vegan Norwegian Brook Horse, legendary Frau Holle, the Moss Mother, people of the Faerie, tree spirits, shape-shifters, changelings, White Ladies and even a dragon chicken.
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Six fantasy fiction novels bring to life the world of the Nyx, resurrection of heroes, lairs of demons and Undead, fairy tales and Corn Spirits. With fast-paced action, battle, humor, murder, offbeat characters, powerful forces unfold in both mystic and mortal worlds.
Through it all, Lora grows from a rebellious schoolgirl to a true warrior woman.
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Victorian Era - the German Empire
The action takes place in the Victorian era Germany (the German Empire) in the 1890s. Progress is on a fast track and inventions like the steam engine, the bicycle and telephone all have an impact. Information, wares, ideas and people travel at unprecedented speeds.
Unified in 1871, the German Empire is only twenty-five years old. Previously it's a rough conglomerate of kingdoms, provinces, free cities and states. Now it has a national identity and progressive ideas to bring to the contemporary table.
By the end of the nineteenth century the German Empire emerges among leading world powers along with Great Britain, Russian Empire, Republic of France, Austria-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
Developments in the 1800s include rising women's rights, environmental awareness and workers' rights. Accident insurance and pensions, put in place by Bismarck, have made Imperial Germany the first welfare state (government providing for welfare of citizens).
Mental health research opens diverse new fields of study, psychiatry and psychology. Romantic movements in art and literature heighten interest in ecology, personal fitness, natural health. The occult becomes drawing room entertainment.
Upon this fertile backdrop the Lora Ley adventures and Reiker For Hire novellas unfold. Join Reiker on a luxury boat cruise of murder, and explore a derelict resort hotel spa with a heinous secret.
Examine the elusive connections between an elite garden party of the wealthy and a magic show on the seedy side of town. And how does a magician's assistant end up center stage for murder?
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